DECEMBER 2022 NEWSLETTER
DECEMBER 2022 NEWSLETTER
ROBERT
LINDENBERGER
3325 3rd
Avenue
Mims, FL 32754
321-368-7184
MERRY CHRISTMAS
JOSEPH
Joseph’s
life, detailed in the book of Genesis, can be summed up by three R’s:
Rejection, Response, and Resilience.
Even as a child, Joseph experienced
rejection. Because his mother, Rachel,
was the one real love of Jacobs’s life, her only son, Joseph, became his
favorite son, causing his brothers' terrible resentment and jealousy of the
special place he held in his father’s heart.
Jacob fashioned an intricately woven,
multicolored coat that set Joseph apart from his brothers to show him he loved
him. And because Joseph lived in his
father’s tent and received visible favoritism, his brothers quickly grew to
despise him.
Joseph was part of the line that would
produce the Savior, and God chose to reveal in a dream his plan to use Joseph
in ministry. But unfortunately, Joseph
unwisely shared this with his brothers, only fueling their rage.
One day, Joseph was sent to take lunch to
his brothers, who were tending sheep in the fields, and when they saw him
coming, they hatched a plot to kill him and sent his beautiful coat, covered
with blood, back to their father. But
his brother, Ruben, argued that, instead of taking Joseph’s life, they should
leave him in a pit, and the brothers agreed.
Ruben planned to return for him later.
After stripping off Joseph’s coat, they
threw him in the pit, dipped his coat in blood, and set off for home before
meeting a caravan headed to Egypt.
Wanting to be rid of him, the brothers sold him to his slave trader in
the caravan without the guilt of his blood on their conscience.
Can you emphasize with Joseph’s awful
disappointment? After finding favor with
both his father and God and with the promise of the future of influence, he
suddenly found himself in a pit and then sold as a slave, which certainly must
have been terrible confusion and despair.
Once in the city, the merchants sold
Joseph as a slave to a man named Potiphar, and because he was young, strong,
and capable, Joseph was put in charge of the man’s entire household of
slaves. Unfortunately, after trying to
and failing several times to seduce Joseph, Potipher’s wife cried rape, and
Joseph was thrown into prison. Doubtless
and devastated by this latest turn of events, he had to wonder what God was
doing.
While in prison, he gained the trust of
those in authority and was put in charge of other prisoners. During this time, he developed a reputation
as one could interpret dreams. To the
King’s servants, the Baker and the cupbearer (wine-taster) were thrown into
jail, and in due time each had a dream that no one but Joseph could
interpret. Not long after, his
interpretation came true, and the Baker was put to death. While the cupbearer returns to the palace,
promising to recommend Joseph to the King.
But as time went on, and no word from the King regarding Joe’s release,
he must’ve felt heartsick and had to wonder at three at the direction his life
had taken.
Outside the prison walls, the King had a
disturbing dream, which he demanded that his holy men interpret, although he
could recall any of the details or explain it in any way. In spite of their best efforts, not one of
them could interpret the dream, and Joe, the cupbearer, recalled how Joseph had
interpreted his dream years earlier.
Finally, when Joseph was summoned, he could discern and interpret the
dream, which foretold seven years of plenty and another seven years of famine. He further urged the King’s store up what he
could during the good years to keep them alive in the lean years and so
impressed the King that he named Joseph second-in-command and put him in charge
of procurement of food.
When it came, the famine was so
far-reaching that it also affected the children of Israel, including Joseph’s
family, and because they were in need of food, Jacob’s sons went to Egypt for
provisions. When they arrived, and
Joseph saw them, his heart was troubled and touched by their need for food. The line for that cause family connection, he
said, “I am Joseph! Is my father still
living?” But his brothers could not
answer him because they were terrified, condemned by the guilt of their sin. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am your
brother Joseph, the one you sold to Egypt!
And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourself for
selling me here because it was to save lives.
They have constantly had them for two years now. There has been a famine in the land, and
there will not be plowing or reaping for the next five years. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve a
remnant on earth for you and to save your lives by a great deliverance. “So that it was not you who sent me here, but
God. He made me a father to Pharaoh,
Lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.” (Genesis 45:3-8 NIV).
After what he had been through, Joseph
could easily have given up, despairing of ever seeing the answer to God’s
promises. No doubt, he prayed to escape
difficult circumstances, but God freed him until the appointed time. Then, in the middle of this trying situation,
God met him where he was and encouraged him, using the trials to help break
Joseph out of the prison of self.
When Joseph reunited with his brothers,
he likely experienced some complex emotions.
His brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt as a young man. Despite a series of painful twists and turns,
God propelled Joseph to a position of
authority. When his brothers came to
Egypt to buy food during the famine, they – unwittingly – sought it from him.
Joseph acknowledged that God redeemed
their wrongdoing, saying he used it to “save [their] lives by a great
deliverance” (Genesis 45:7). Yet Joseph
didn’t redefine their hurtful actions toward him. – He described them accurately as “selling [him].”
(v.5).
We sometimes try to put an overly
positive spin on difficult situations, focusing on the good God brings from
them without acknowledging the emotional struggle. Let’s take care not to redefine a wrong as
being good simply because God redeemed it: we can look for him to bring good
from it while we still recognize the pain wrongdoing causes. Both are true. 1.
1.
Robert
Lindenberger, WOUNDED HEART, HEALED HEART, Pp. 57-59.
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